Railroad-crossing



(No Model.)

Patented Oct. 11-, 1892.

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(No Moder) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. KNIGHT.

I RAILROAD CROSSING. I

No. 484,100. Patented Oct. 11, 1892.

a mum WAEHINGTON, n. :4

. exact description of the invention, such as ATENT J tries.

MOSSES G. KNIGHT, OF OAK CLIFF, TEXAS.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,100, dated October11, 1892.

Serial No. 426,985. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Mossns G. KNIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oak Clifl, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Crossings; andIdo declare the following to be a full, clear, and

will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My invention has relation to a novel automatic railway-track crossing;and it consists in certain devices organized in a manner to secureautomatic alignment of a series of movable rail-sections with the mainrails of a track on which a train is traveling in the direction of thecrossing, the approach of the train setting in motion the devices bywhich the rail-sections are controlled, and thus dispensing with anattendant at the crossing to set the contrivance for the safe passage ofthe train through the crossing.

The invention further consists in the combination and construction ofparts, which will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularlypointed out in the claims.

The invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, formingapart of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view ofthe track-crossing complete. Fig. 2 is a detail view illustrating themeans whereby the axially-turning disks are simultaneously adjusted.Fig. 3 is a detail view in elevation of one of the disks and apart ofits actuating means. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlargedscale, through the parts shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan view of thebed for the disk, showing the antifriction-bearing thereof. Fig. 6 is adetail view in side elevation, illustrating one of the series ofwheel-actuated bars for moving the disks which carry the movablerail-sections.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figuresof the drawings, referring to which-- A A designate the rails of onemain track, and B B the rails of another main track, which extends atright angles to and intersects with the rails A A of the first-namedmain track. At the intersection or crossingpoints of the rails of saidright-angled tracks rails I I being in line with the rails A A of onemain track and the rails J J being in line with the rails B B of theother main track. The disks are adapted to be simultaneously turnedhalf-way around, and the rail-sections thereon are designed to alignwith the maintrack rails and the stub-rails, according to which of thetwo main tracks the rail-sections are adjusted. Thus when the train istravelin g on the main track A A the disks are turned so that thesections G G and'II H are in line with the rails A A and I I, as shownin Fig. 1; but when the train approaches the crossing on the track B Bfrom either direction, the disks are turned to bring the rail-sections GG and H H in line with the rails B B and .I J, respectively, as will bereadily understood. Each axially-turning disk is supported by a bed K,which is solidly and firmly secured in place, and the bed of said diskis provided with four radial sockets la is, two of which are designed toreceive the ends of two of the main-track rails,'as A B, and the othertwo seats receive two fixed crossing-rails, as I J, said rails beingsecurely bolted or fastened in place.

In the upper side of each fixed bed K is provided a central socket e forthe reception of the central part of the revoluble disk, and concentricwith this socket is arranged an 'annular Vertical flange e, whichformsbetween itself and the wall of the central socket a chamber L, inwhich is placed a series of roller-bearings L, which are of conicalform, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and which bear against the lowerbeveled or-inclined face of the revolubledisk.

The movable rail-section may be secured rigidly to its disk or madeintegral therewith, as shown in Fig. 3, and from the edge of the disk isa depending flange m, that takes against the flange e and serves to holdthe disk in place and prevent its displacement. Each revoluble disk isfurther provided with an axially-arranged operating-stem N, which isrigidly secured to the disk at its lower side. This stem passes freelythrough a vertical central opening formed in the bed of the disk, andthe lower end of said turning-stem N also passes through a fixedguide-block O, which is arranged a suitable distance below the bed K andparallel therewith, the lower extremity of the stem being slottedtransversely at 0 and receiving a key or cotter 0 below the guide-blockO to prevent vertical displacement of the stern and the revoluble diskto which the stem is secured. The stem of each revoluble disk carries apower-gear P, which is rigidly secured to said stem by a key or in anyother desirable manner, and with each gear-pinion meshes a rack in eachof two endwise-movable actuating-rods, four of which are employed, as atQ Q and R R. The rods R R are arranged above and at right angles to theother rods Q Q, and each rod has two series of rack-teeth q g, whichmesh with two of the pinions on the stems of two revoluble disks, therods being arranged, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, to connect allfour of the revoluble disks for simultaneous action when one of theseries of rods is moved by a train approaching the crossing in eitherdirection. To effect this automatic operation of the revoluble disks, Iprovide a wheel-actuated pressure-bar S on each of the four sides of thecrossing, and this pressure-bar is arranged alongside of one of themain-track rails at some distance from the crossing, so that all theparts will be actuated to adjust the movable sections of rails in linewith the proper main-track rails on which the train is approaching. Thehead of the main-track rail to which the wheel-actuated pressure-bar isapplied is cut away a short distance to receive this bar, and saidpressure-bar is made in two sections 3 s, which are normally inclinedreversely to each other and extend above the level of the track-rail inthe path of the treads of the wheels adapted to travel on said rail. Thesection 8 of the pressurebar has its outer end pivoted at s to the webof the main-track rail, and the other section 8' has a longitudinal slott, through which passes a fixed pin t, that permits the section 8' tohave a limited endwise movement sufficient for the pressure-bar to bedepressed below the rail. The inner meeting ends of the sections 8 s ofthe bar are pivoted together and to a vertical arm 25 by a common pivoti and the lower end of this arm is pivoted to the short arm of abell-crank rocker U, which is fulcrumed at the junction of its arms to afixed depending bracket to, securely fastened to the under side of oneof the main-track rails. The longer upper arm of this bell-crank rockeris pivoted to a pitman V, which extends from the rocker and is connectedto one of the rack-bars which actuate the stems of the revoluble disks,and each pitman is provided with an intermediate coiled-spring por-'tion 1;, which serves to sustain'the rocker in position and hold thepressure-bar raised in the path of the car-wheels and provide for a deepdouble-flange wheel.

To limit the movement of the revoluble disks and insure proper alignmentof the railsections thereon with the fixed track and crossing rails, Iprovide said track and cross ing rails with protruding stops W, whichare securely bolted to the webs of said rails and project beyond theends of the same in the path of the rail-sections on said disks tocontact with said movable rail-sections and arrest the motion thereofwhen the disks are 'actu ated to set the rail-sections in line witheither main track.

The operation of my invention is obv1ous from the foregoing description,and it may be briefly explained as follows: Normally the pressure -barsare elevated by the coiledspring pitmen above the heads of the rails andthe disks placed in positions so that the railsections thereon alignwith the main-track rails. As a train approaches the crossing fromeither direction the wheels depress the pressure-bar on one rail of thetrack, which in turn moves the rocker and pushes the pitman to move oneof the rack-bars endwise, and as all the rack-bars are geared to thestems of the series of disks the latter are rotated to bring all of themovable rail-sections into proper alignment with the rails of the maintrack on which the train is traveling.

I am aware that changes and alterations in the form and proportion ofparts and details of construction of the mechanism herein shown anddescribed as an embodiment of my invention can be made without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In an automaticrailway-crossing, the combination, with the main-track rails and thecrossing-rails, of an axially-turning disk at each intersection of saidrails and having the movable rail-section and a depending stem providedwith a double gear-pinion, a stationary bed for each disk, the two setsof reciprocating bars, each having the rack-teeth which mesh with thepinions on the stems of two disks, and means for actuating either ofsaid reciprocating bars, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a railway-crossing, the combination, with the main-track rails andcrossing-rails,

IIU

of the fixed beds at the intersection of said rails, comprising thecentral socket and chamher, the annular vertical flange e, and theintegral radial rail-seats in which are firmly secured the contiguousends of the main-track and crossing rails, the revoluble disks seated inroller-bearings in said beds and having the depending stems and theannular flanges m, adapted to engage the flanges e of the beds,-

stemsrigid with each disk and passing through the bed and a lowerguide-block and having the key below the said block, the gear-pinion.

keyed to each stem, and the reciprocating rack-bars geared to thepinions on the stems of the disks, substantially as described.

4. In arailway-crossing, the combination,

. with the main-track and crossing rails, the disks earrying'the movablestub-rails, and the rack-bars for actuating said disks, of a sectionalpressure-bar connected to said maintrack rail and having a pendantconnected to a rocker and a spring-pitman between the rocker and therack-bar, substantially as described. p

5. In a railway-crossing, the combination, with the main-track and thecrossing ra ls, the disks carrying the stub-rails and having thedepending stems, and the rack-bars geared to said stems, of thesectional pressure-bar pivoted at the ends to a main-track rail andconnected vto a common pendant, the bellcrank rocker having the pendantconnected to one arm, and the spring-pitman pivoted to the other arm ofthe pendant and connected to "a rack-bar, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

MOSSES G. KNIGHT.

Witnesses:

W. J. SHERMAN, GEO. W. STEWART.

